David Martel

«There's a reason people won't shut up about David Martel, and it begins and ends with the immediate appeal of his debut disc. I Hardly Knew Me is a tour de force, a smartly-written record that lets Martel explore all sides of his talent and vision. This is a dynamic first record with wide appeal. ****»
Dave Jaffer, Hour - Hour

«Forget what you know about pop music and the industry: there's still some genuine people out there. I've told anyone who wanted to hear that David Martel was one of the best musical act our fair city had to offer. I'm sticking to my guns»
Gabby Leford, Midnight Poutine.ca - Midnight Poutine.ca

«Forget what you know about pop music and the industry: there's still some genuine people out there. I've told anyone who wanted to hear that David Martel was one of the best musical act our fair city had to offer. I'm sticking to my guns»
Gabby Leford, Midnight Poutine.ca - Midnight Poutine.ca

«Descendant de la candeur atmosphérique des Patrick Watson, Jeff Buckley et Sufjan Stevens»
Olivier Robillard Laveaux, Voir - Voir

«He's my new favorite artist. I really really enjoyed this album very much»
Pierre Landry, Daybreak (CBC Radio 1) - CBC Radio 1

«Montreal singer-songwriter David Martel took things up a notch, supplementing guitar and cello with layers of his own voice to create startlingly powerful songs»
Heather Perry, Exclaim! - Exclaim!

Samedi 6 Mars 2008

... Joelle B. nous propose de découvrir David Martel, un Montréalais qui a lancé son disque indie-pop I Hardly Knew Me, fin février. Approuvé également. J'aime bien la piece The End of Self ...

[excerpt from article] - Hugo Dumas (La Presse Montreal)

Avec un nom pareil, on pourrait s’attendre à un futur candidat
aux auditions de Star Académie, prêt à attaquer les radios
commerciales avec une musique préfabriquée. Mais on est loin
du cas. On a plutôt affaire ici à un jeune homme anglophone,
chanteur de la formation montréalaise onlyforward, qui tente
maintenant l’aventure solo avec son folk tristounet. Et le résultat
est plus qu’intéressant. On n’a qu’à écouter sa chanson Cancel
All Your Plans, qui aurait pu parfaitement trouver sa place sur
la bande originale du film Once, pour s’en convaincre (d’ailleurs,
la version live de cette pièce, qu’on peut entendre sur son site
MySpace, sera celle conservée pour l’album tant l’intensité
captée ce soir-là au Yellow Door était unique). Mais derrière
cette musique se tient surtout tout un personnage. David Martel
semble tout droit sorti d’une boîte à surprises, toujours prêt à
faire une mimique, lancer une phrase sarcastique, à amuser
son public. Dès qu’on le voit, on veut davantage le connaître,
convaincu que le temps passé en sa compagnie sera fort
agréable. Son premier album I Hardly Knew Me, enregistré
au studio DNA, sera lancé en mai sur l’étiquette torontoise
Kindling Music, mais il sera disponible sur iTunes dès le mois
de mars. Par la suite, tournées par-dessus tournées, tant en solo
qu’avec son band, partout au Canada. À noter que David Martel
est également chef cuisinier au Lola Rosa Café où il y organise
à l’occasion des soirées Dinner and a Show, s’occupant de tout
de A à Z, de la préparation des mets végétariens au service
aux tables en passant par le spectacle en fin de soirée. Bref, un
homme à marier. (Sébastien Charest) - Bang Bang - Volume 3 Issue 1

The house was filled with musicians of all kinds. Dave Martel has some good friendships in
the music community and many of them were present this past Thursday night at his
“Debutante Ball” CD launch for the new album “I Hardly Knew Me” at the cabaret JPR. And
they were there for good reasons; a night of really great music.
Mike O’Brien opened up the night with a solo set of his very bestest tunes. Mike has a way
of drawing in the audience from the first note plucked on his guitar to the very last. His
fingerstyle technique is so advanced that not only are you drawn into the lyrics of his
humorous, yet contemplative lyrics, but the arrangements, chord progressions, finger
patterns and all other elements of his music. I’ve seen Mike play a few times before this, and
like always, his performance was just as consistent and if anything, his playing was more
polished that I’ve seen it before. In addition, Martel made a cameo during the track
Josephine singing some really beautiful harmonies together with O’Brien.
The solo acoustic guitar set was followed up with an electrified set from Ladies of the
Canyon. I had the pleasure of running sound for the Ladies at the last Indyish Mess, but in a
different capacity, considering there were just four of them and they were playing an
acoustic set. In addition the the LOTC’s beautiful harmonic voices and acoustic guitars, they
brought with them a skilled country-electric guitarist and a drummer to hold down the rhythm
section with bassist Anna Ruddick. Maia Davies played keys, while Senja Sargeant, and (a
very pregnant!) Jasmine Bleile played guitars and sang. There’s a nice balance between the
songs (each written by different members of the band) moving from country ballads, to
contemporary rockers and definite nods towards the classic songwriters such as Bob Dylan,
Johnny Cash and Emmylou Harris. The Ladies keep things mixed up on stage by switching
instruments, lead vocals and their places on stage.
On to Mr. David Martel… well, what can I say. I guess I can start by repeating what I heard
in the restroom after the show; converstations including comments such as “Woah! Where
did this guy come from?” and “What an incredibly complete (musical) package this guy has
put together.” I’m guessing that this was a reference to the 12 players he had on stage with
him, including a cellist, violinist, flutist, trumpet player, pianist/ synth player, drummer,
bassist, electric guitarist, accordionist, and two back up vocalists… whew!! What a package
indeed. They were introduced to the audience as Martel’s “very bestest friendships” and
there sure was a clear camaraderie between this group of players - and chemistry!
There were moments of complete synergy on stage, where all the musicians were playing
as a complete unit. Moments of instrumental interludes between songs, recalling the sounds
of post-rock bands such as Godspeed and Do Make Say Think, as well as total free
improvisation, kept popping up to keep the crowd on its feet and helped greatly to transition
one song to the next. Adding to the smooth flow between songs was David’s humorous
banter, including a moment dedicated to his francophone grandmother which was recited in
the most entertaining (and very endearing) quebecoise slang!
I don’t know if I can say anything else in words to help cover the sense of what was
accomplished last Thursday night. Martel has been working on this record for about a year
with Dave Sturton at DNA studio in Montreal along with engineer Kevin Gault who ran the
phenomenal sound for the David Martel portion of the show. So, there was a LOT of emotion
on the stage and at one point my eyes did in fact swell up with some tears. All this to say
that there were some very real things happening on stage at the Cabaret JPR.
All the best with the launch Dave, I hope it sells millions! Good luck with future tours and a
BIG congratulations on a fantastic show. - Indyish.com